In a bit of good news for buyers, the state’s median and condo price both edged down in January, a somewhat rare occurrence in the past few years, which have been marked by month after month of relentless increases, according to The Warren Group, the Boston-based real estate data and publishing firm.

The state’s median home price declined by roughly half a percent, to $320,000, while the median condo price fell more than 3 percent to $290,875.

However, all that buying activity pushed the already anemic level of homes for sale down even more.

The amount of unsold homes fell 20 percent, down to a total backlog equaling just three months of sales activity, or supply, MAR reports.

In balanced markets where buyers and sellers are more evenly matched, there is typically several months’ worth of unsold listings.

“We remain in a unique time where, despite the lack of inventory of homes for sale, buyers have been successfully finding homes they want to live in and making offers that sellers are accepting,” noted Blatz, the MAR president.